Going on a Gasoline Diet

I love my 4-Runner. His name is Clifford (Big Red Truck) and we've been together for 26+ years. I bought Clifford new in 1996 and he and I have had many adventures together. He's still a great truck, very useful for hauling all sorts of things around.

I've been good to Clifford, keeping him maintained, and in return, Clifford has been a very reliable truck.

The other Clifford - Big Red Dog

But Clifford's not getting any younger... we just ticked over the 360,000 km mark a few weeks back. That's a pretty impressive milestone but then 4-Runners are kind of like the energizer bunny... they just keep going and going. Clifford is "only" a 4-cylinder which means he's not as big a gas guzzler as some other SUVs. Still... Clifford is a gas-powered vehicle and I am beginning to really question how long we are can justify keeping him around.

Clifford would be easy to sell at this point. I've had guys approach me in the parking lot asking "Do you want to sell that?" Because the 4-Runner, particularly of that era (1990s) are very, very reliable and, apparently, desirable.

I am clear that our next vehicle is not going to be gas-powered... Clifford's days with us are numbered. For the moment, however, we are staying together.

In the meantime... I am trying to think of ways in which we can reduce our gasoline footprint. I try to maximize my errand trips. If I know I'm going to be in a certain area of town because of an appointment, I will try to rejig schedules so that I can accomplish several other errands in the same area.

Right now, the most hard-to-justify trips that I take with Clifford are my early morning visits to Starbucks. Yep... I drive to Starbucks most mornings, whether I have an errand to run or not. I get there early, get some work done, and then drive home and pick up the threads of the rest of the day. It's not a long drive... 3-4 km at most, one way.

Walk

I could walk that in about an hour... but I'm not up for a 2 hour round trip walk in the mornings. So, walking is out. Unless... I were to choose a different hang-out spot. There is a local coffee shop a 30 minute walk away... Or I could go hang out at the university library, also a 30 minute walk... or the aquatic centre... I'd need to shift my routine and habit though... ugh!

Our WalkScore number... not good... not good at all.

Transit
As for public transit... we don't live in Vancouver where that would be a really good option. Here, not so much. Our public transit system is not the most reliable nor the most convenient for timing or routes, so that is out.

Or is that just my own sense of transit snobbery? Nope... I looked up our address on WalkScore and... it's bad.

Kitsilano, Vancouver - WalkScore

Type in your address and they give you a Walk/Transit/Bike score. Our city overall has a poor walk score (35) and is labeled car dependent with a poor transit system. But our address is even worse... a Walk Score of 10! Eesh... And they didn't even give it a Transit or Bike Score... My sister, on the other hand, lives in Kitsilano in Vancouver and... well... her Walk/Transit/Bike score looks verrryyyyy different.

Bike
Soooo... what about my bicycle? If I jump on my bike, I can be at Starbucks in 10-15 minutes (it's mostly downhill). I know this because I've done it before. For a few years, particularly in the spring/summer/fall, I was pretty good with biking to Starbucks but then my life got hectic and... it took too long.

Riding my bike would have several benefits and tick a number of boxes:

• good exercise for me
• good cardiovascular workout for me
• good for the environment
• good for our gas budget
• good for society - setting a good example, less traffic

Bike Seat Butt
So, what stops me? Honestly... it's the first few bike rides of the season after the winter. I haven't been on my bike for months and... my butt is not used to the bicycle seat. So the first ride is usually good... but then, the next day, I have sore butt bones and sitting on the bike is pure agony. So then I try to give my butt a rest for a day... or two... or three... and then a week goes by and... voila... no bike riding routine.

Maybe I need a new bike saddle? Or to adjust my handlebars and seat post? Or maybe I just need to power through the sore butt phase. I KNOW that I always feel better once I'm in the bike riding habit. But there's a huge inertia mountain between my tender butt (now) and my saddle hardened butt (2 weeks from now).

I guess the real question is... how committed am I to making a difference for myself, for the planet, for our budget? I can come up with all sorts of excuses as to why biking is too hard, too much work, etc.

• I need to get the tires pumped up and that means I'd have to take it down the hill to the gas station (2 minute walk) and pay $1.50 to pump up the tires.
• It needs a tune-up and that costs $$ and I'd have to make an appointment and get it there and...
• The chain is rusty and needs oil and I don't know if we have any oil
• I'll just have a sore butt after this.
• What if it rains?
• I'm going to be a wheezing slug on it for the first few days/weeks. I hate feeling like an out-of-shape slug.

But there many benefits too...

• I could bike farther afield.
• Go to a different Starbucks or coffee shop.
• Bike to appointments once I'm up and running.
• Try some further afield trails once I'm past the slug state.
• It opens up a lot of possibilities for me.

The pros really do outweigh the cons but the inertia... oh the inertia... it feels insurmountable at this point. Or... is it time to bite the bullet and buy an e-bike ($1500+)? A friend of ours is buying one and I've seen these bikes zipping up our hill with the greatest of ease. It would handle the "slug" business for sure. And maybe even the sore butt bones. Still... before we make that big of an investment into an e-bike, I want to see if I can't give the old-fashion me-bike another chance. One small step at a time.